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**garstonite** · 31-03-15, 13:07

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foster
ralph
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Ralph L Foster to Gladys E Welch was in York ,june qtr 1918 -
does the L stand for Lancelot ??? and this was during WW1
they married at St Margaret ,York ( Yorkshirebmd )
I don't quite understand how he could use a different name in a church if the Banns were put up ??
he was b mar qtr 1900 and married jun qtr 1918 - so was only 18 when he married ..a Lance Cororal at 18 ??...was he from a wealthy family ?...not many working class men of 18 became Lance Corporal - I presume he had not long signed up for the War ?
you had to be 18 to sign up and 19 to go and actually fight ....

Welcome - The Long, Long Trail

http://www.1914-1918.net/recruitment.htm

All about the British Army of the First World War. Find how to research the men and women who served, and stacks of detail about the army organisation, battles, and the battlefields.

quite frankly this puzzling me how an 18yr old non fighting man became Lance Corporal - do you know what year he signed up for WW1 ? ...MY OWN GRANDFATHER SIGNED UP AGED 15 - but when they found out his real age 6 months later he was sent home ...rules were rules ..
ADDED...I wasn't being negative - you did ask if anyone had any ideas and my thoughts are that Ralph Foster at 18 would not be a Lance Corporal and would probably never been abroad to fight unless he lied about his age ....xx

**Stellanne** · 31-03-15, 18:17

Hi, yes it does seem a puzzle. I have a copy of his marriage certificate. He married Gladys on 18th May 1918..... Well Ralph Lancelot Foster did. He was 18yrs old. A note on the marriage certificate reads........
In Entry No 25 Col 2 for 'Ralph Lancelot Foster' read 'Guy Lancelot Wright otherwise Ralph Lancelot Foster'
In Col 7 omit 'Ralph Foster' which name was inserted in ignorance at the time, it being not the bridegrooms Father's name. Corrected by me F.A. Mann Rector May 19, 1919 in the presence of Guy Lancelot Wright and Gladys Emma Wright the parties married.

As for him being very young to be a Lance Corporal, I understand that by nature of the number of casualties during WW1, it is feasible that if he joined up in 1914 then by 1918 he could be considered quite a pro in army life.

He told his family he had lied about his age to enlist, which is why I have the hypothesis of him taking his step fathers name.

Stella x x x

**bcbrit** · 31-03-15, 21:05

Hi Stellanne,

I found the WW1 medal card for a Ralph Foster.

It says Northumberland Fusiliers, Private, # 3934
Durham Light Infantry, Private # 277655
Received the Victory and the British medal.

Doesn't help much, I know !

bcbrit

**Richard in Perth** · 01-04-15, 05:12

The WW1 service records for Ralph Foster, the step-father, are on Ancestry. According to this he was born c1877 (he was aged 39 years and 1 month when he signed up in May 1916). The details of his marriage to Anne Elizabeth Wright (presumably Guy Lancelot's mother?) are included in the documents, as well as births for 4 children she had by a previous partner - a Robert Parkinson. Interestingly, there is no mention of Guy - presumably because he would have been 16 by the time Ralph signed up, so was no longer a dependent wrt Ralph's army pension (which was the reason wife & children are listed in the service records).

The details given in Ralph's service records are:

Marriage to Anne Elizabeth Wright, spinster, 14-Jun-1913, Windy Hook parish Church, Gatehead. Address: 17 South Street, Sherburn Colliery, Co Durham

children:
William Parkinson, 4-Apr-1901 Beamish
Robert Parkinson, 29-May-1904 Gateshead
David Parkinson, 6-Jul-1908 Chester-le-Street
Cyril Parkinson, 5-May-1911 Gateshead

Further on in the document, it states that these children were the illegitimate sons of Robert Allport Parkinson & Anne Elizabeth Wright. All the dates had been verified for the army by the General Register Office, as Ralph & Anne couldn't afford to get the certificates themselves. There is also a note in the file explaining how Robert had left Anne and that now she was married to Ralph so he was legally responsible for the kids. Unfortunately, these are the "burnt" documents so are often illegible, but you should try to get a copy if you can as they contain a wealth of info. His regiment was RFA 19th Res. Bty, service number 140901. He was promoted to Corporal and gained the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Could these in fact have been the medals you saw?

Incidentally, in 1901 census, Annie & Robert are living in Beamish with step-son "Guy L Wright", aged 1. By 1911 they were living at 289a Saltwell Terrace, Gateshead. The three eldest Parkinson children listed above are with them, along with "Guy Parkinson" (presumably this is in fact Guy Lancelot Wright). In both censuses, Annie claimed to be married to Robert, though the army records reveal they were never officially married!

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any service records for Ralph Foster / Guy Wright with the regiment/service number you gave above - only a medal card which does not have much info. Therefore, still possible that the medals could have belonged to him, but I agree it seems more feasible they were his step-dad's, given the latter's service record as mentioned above.

Richard

**Richard in Perth** · 01-04-15, 05:29

Adding to that - the medal card for Ralph Foster #3934 states his rank as "Private" - so that would suggest that the if the medals were for a lance corporal Ralph Foster, then that is not likely to be the right medal card. The medal card for Ralph Foster #140901 confirms the details in the step-father's service records - i.e. Royal Field Artillery, rank Corporal, British & Victory medals.

Oh and Guy emigrated in 1928, not 1921. He and Gladys departed London on the Orsova, 8 Dec 1928 for Melbourne. This was therefore nine years after the marriage cert was amended (in May 1919) so I don't think that was the reason for the amendment.

By the way - what does the marriage cert state for his occupation? If he was still in the army at the time it would usually give his rank.

Cheers,
Richard

**Richard in Perth** · 01-04-15, 06:30

His cremation record is online, including an image of memorial plaque:

Memorial Search - Centennial Park

http://www.centennialpark.org/deceased-search/

Explore cemetery records for our Adelaide cemetery using the memorial search. Find love ones and renew a position of the deceased online.

Name: Guy Lancelot
Surname: Wright
Last Abode: Northfield
Date of Death: 02/05/1978 (Aged 78 Years)
Cremation Date: 06/05/1978
Location: South East, Rose Bed S12, Position 001A

Also his wife Gladys:

Name: Gladys Emma
Surname: Wright
Last Abode: Northfield
Date of Death: 05/06/1958 (Aged 62 Years)
Sex: Female
Location: South East, Rose Bed S12, Position 001
Cremation Date: 07/06/1958

**Richard in Perth** · 01-04-15, 06:47

Another thing - you said that you got the regiment "Kings Shropshire Light Infantry" from the wedding photo. If this is from the cap insignia, then it is possible that this was in fact the Durham Light Infantry insignia, as they are very similar:

Kings Shropshire Light Infantry
kings-shropshire-light-infantry_badge.jpg

Durham Light Infantry
DLI.jpg

Could be hard to tell the difference from an old grainy photo!

So quite possibly that is the right medal card (first in the Northumberland Fusiliers, #3934, then in the Durham Light Infantry, #277655) after all? By the way, I just read up on the Lance Corporal rank (see Wikipedia!), and at the time it was an appointment rather than a rank - it was given to privates who were acting NCOs, and could be taken away by the soldier's commanding officer. That might explain why he was back to "private" on his medal card. Also quite possible that an 18 year old private could be appointed Lance Corporal. I'm beginning to change my mind on this one, and maybe those medals that you saw were his after all!

**Richard in Perth** · 01-04-15, 06:53

OK, the clincher!!

The medal roll (as opposed to the card) gives his rank as "Private (Lance Corporal)". It must be him!

UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920
Name: Ralph Foster
Military Year: 1914-1920
Rank: Private (Lance Corporal)
Medal Awarded: British War Medal and Victory Medal
Regiment or Corps: Durham Light Infantry
Regimental Number: 277655
Previous Units: 15th North'd Fus. 3934. Pte., 1st North'd Fus. 3934

Unfortunately though it seems his service records haven't survived - at least I can't find them on Ancestry.

**Stellanne** · 01-04-15, 07:35

Originally posted by bcbrit View Post

Hi Stellanne,

I found the WW1 medal card for a Ralph Foster.

It says Northumberland Fusiliers, Private, # 3934
Durham Light Infantry, Private # 277655
Received the Victory and the British medal.

Doesn't help much, I know !

bcbrit

Hi yes, the family in Australia have these medals, which is why I am now puzzling whether they belonged to his step father and not Guy. The family also have his Lance Corporal stripes as well as his cap badge for the Kings Shropshire light Infantry. X x xStella x x x

**Stellanne** · 01-04-15, 07:44

Hi Richard....... I have been searching for this information for a long time. It seems my skills need polishing. Thank you very much for all that information. I will get into ancestry and check it out though as said I haven't as yet found it myself.
On his marriage certificate he was listed as a 'soldier'. And yes I have the day and ship he left for Australia. It must have been 1921 when his daughter Lilian was born. Without the file I am doing this from memory..

You have the wayward Parkinson well sorted. There was always a belief he wasn't married and did in fact wander off, which is why I have been unable to find marriage/divorce evidence, or people on this forum have struggled to locate any evidence. I will fire up the computer and have a close look at the cap badge......

Thanks again Richard. Hugs x x xStella x x x

**Stellanne** · 01-04-15, 08:12

Mmmmmm I don't think the cap badge is what I thought it was........ X x xhugs x xStella x x x

**Richard in Perth** · 01-04-15, 10:57

Makes more sense for him to be in the Durham Light Infantry, rather than the Kings Shropshire - since he was from that part of the world in any case!

So the medal card, and the rank as given on the medal roll, i.e. Private (Lance Corporal) do tie in with your photo and also with the medals you've seen and the info from your Australian relative. I think they quite probably are his medals in that case. The mystery remains as to why he signed up under his step-father's name. Quite possibly he was previously using his first step-father's name (i.e. Parkinson) as this is the surname he was using on the 1911 census. Then when Mr Parkinson "shot through", he decided to change to his new step-father's name. That is just conjecture of course - maybe impossible to know for sure now! Of course, once he was enlisted under the name Ralph Foster he would have had to marry under that name as he was still in the army at the time and would have needed to show them his certificate. Then after the war he decided for whatever reason to revert to his birth name - again, we can't really find out why - maybe he fell out with his 2nd step-father? Or maybe there was a legal reason (isn't that around the time that National Insurance started, and proof of identity became more necessary?).

Cheers,
Richard

**Olde Crone Holden** · 01-04-15, 11:03

Another reason - many people thought (wrongly) that if they married under a false name it invalidated the marriage and this may have worried the couple enough to correct it.

OC

**Stellanne** · 01-04-15, 11:16

Hello Richard. Yes that was to be my next question, how with all the army checks did he manage to get away with enlisting with, what was, a false identity!!! I think I agree with your thoughts about having to marry using the name Ralph Foster. He did go on to serve in the Australian Army during WW2, though I don't think as an active soldier. Is there a way I can check this out. Do you have Australian war records on line? X x xx hugs Stella x x x

**Richard in Perth** · 01-04-15, 13:11

As far as I know, there was no requirement to prove your identity when you enlisted for WW1. That is why so many young men were able to sign up when they were actually under age. In any case it was not illegal to use an assumed name, though of course if he lied about his age that is a different matter. The only proof required was of dependents (wife and children under 16 years of age) as this affected the man's pension - hence why the details of Ralph's marriage to Anne Wright and of the births of her children had to be verified by the General Register Office.

The Australians who served in Australia's defence forces and Merchant Navy during WW2 are listed on this site: http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/ . However, your Guy is not listed there, under either Foster or Wright surname (nor is he listed under first name Ralph or Lance(lot)). Therefore, either he applied to have his name excluded from the roll (as some did), or he didn't serve with the Australian forces. If he served with other (non-Australian) Commonwealth or Allied Forces during WW2 he wouldn't be listed on this roll, nor would he be if he was in a civilian support role.

Another place you could look for him is the National Archives site: http://www.naa.gov.au/ . The search facility isn't working at the moment so I couldn't look for you, but hopefully it is just a temporary glitch!

Cheers,
Richard

**Richard in Perth** · 01-04-15, 13:41

Do you have him on the Australian electoral rolls? Ancestry have him (under the name Guy Lancelot Wright) with Gladys from 1930 to 1936, first in New South Wales and then in Victoria:

1930: Gerogery East, NSW - gardener
1931: Green St, Spotswood, VIC - miner
1934: 10 Bath St, Balaclava, VIC - labourer
1936: Pt Nepean Rd, Dromana, VIC - gardener

They are not listed after 1936 so they must have moved to South Australia around that time (SA electoral rolls are not online).

**Guest** · 01-04-15, 13:42

clever Richard outstanding work

**Stellanne** · 01-04-15, 15:39

Richard is great isn't he Val!!!! I am going to re visit your hard work regarding Robert Parkinson. You may remember you found him aged 70+ somewhere....... I semi dismissed him but now I know he was a bit of a cad then I will show more interest.
Richard, Guy and Gladys travelled about Australia, staying in various places and moving on very quickly. I understand the daughter Lillian liked her gentlemen and wasn't bothered whether they were married or not!!! They often had to do moonlights to avoid debt or anger!!! It wasn't until 1956 they settled down properly and then poor Gladys died in 1958.
I have had a good look at the service record of Ralph Foster. I hadn't realised there were so many pages. That was something learnt. Also in the searches the children of the household came up as well. What a day I have had......a lovely learning curve. Thank you all again hugs Stella x x x

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